It does have a good dynamic range as standard though and even with bright side lighting, there was detail coming through in the shadow areas. Technically speaking, the Canon PowerShot S90 ranks in the best 25% of its category (and in the best 58 of all cameras in our database) scoring 44 overall. The Canon PowerShot S90 weights 195 gr and spans 100 x 58 x 31 mm. This means that it is particularly light and small, indeed one of the most handy options within its category. A modest 10Mp CCD sensor echoes the thoughts of when the G11 was released to gasps that a manufacturer wasn't pandering to the pixel race by actually lowering the count from the previous model. To use the same sensor could be a simple cost cutting exercise by purchasing a larger amount from the outset, but it could also mean (and I expect this to be the official word) that Canon have found the optimum resolution that the sensor can handle before it starts to lose quality. While the left hand flank of the S90, viewed from the rear, is devoid of controls, the right hand side features hard plastic covered ports for both an HDMI cable (not supplied in the box) plus more regular combined AV out/USB out port (for which two separate cables are provided). Landscape - Great, score 32, ranks in the best 22% of its category. Canon PowerShot S90 is perfect for Landscape photography, one of the best in its class.

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 10 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 3Mb. Fitting a full set of manual exposure controls onto a small compact camera is bound to present a challenge, but Canon’s designers are a pretty inventive bunch. The S90 has an unusual rotating bezel control around the lens which is used to adjust various parameters. In manual and aperture priority modes it adjusts aperture, while in shutter priority mode it adjusts shutter speed. In auto and program modes its default setting is ISO adjustment, but it can be customised to adjust one of list of other parameters. It’s a novel idea and might appeal to owners of older SLRs and rangefinder cameras, but to be honest I found it slightly awkward to handle, and the changing function depending on the shooting mode was somewhat confusing. From the top then, we have a rounded piece of moulding extending from below where the mode dial sits on the top plate, a subtle indentation provided into which rests the tip of the users thumb when gripping the camera for shooting handheld. This is the only place on the camera affording much in the way of manually steadying the S90; as mentioned, keeping things resolutely compact, there's no grip provided at the front or sides - being one of the few areas in which this model feels truly compromised. Financial concerns aside, offering advanced features and yet compact dimensions, the Canon PowerShot S90 can count itself among the rare number of cameras we feel sad (and slightly aggrieved) to have to return to the manufacturer at the end of our review period. Impressive stuff. Although I’m sure that Canon would deny any connection, the similarities to the LX3 are hard to ignore. The S90 features a 1/1.7-inch 10.0-megapixel CCD (the same as the G11), a 3.0-inch 460k monitor, and a wide-zoom lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.0. It too has full manual exposure controls, an all-metal body and a very similar pop-up flash. It even has one of its controls on the lens bezel.The command dial on the top is small and firm. If you ask me, it's a bit too firm and so far is the only thing going against a thoroughly enjoyable little camera.

The lens and sensor work well together to produce tons of sharp detail, and the low compression makes sure it’s clearly visible. The S90 may not look much like the S80, S70 and all its earlier predecessors, but it has been conceived in much the same spirit; a smaller, more stylish alternative to the G series, offering key enthusiast features (such as raw capture and manual controls) in a compact body. Inevitably some pixel fringing is in evidence between areas of high contrast in outdoor shots, but it's kept well within acceptable levels and wouldn't be noticed unless zooming in to scrutinize detail like we were. If you already own a DSLR, and possibly also a bridge camera, ownership of the S90 - more portable and with nearly as much on-board sophistication - starts to make a little more sense. Or perhaps if you view the S90 as the one and only compact you're ever going to buy or need.There are 7 ISO settings available on the Canon PowerShot S90. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting. Manual focusing selects the centre of the screen for fine tuning. A proximity level sits to the right. However, the technical performance of your camera should be put in context. Indeed, depending on the type of photography you are interested in, each individual camera feature can impact your pictures to a different extent. This is the reason why we developed the iCamRank. iCamRank has been designed to weight all the individual technical specifications of each camera in the camerarace database, depending on different shooting conditions. Thus, here is what we suggest, depending on the photography type you like most: The Canon PowerShot S90 handled chromatic aberrations very well during the review, with limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the example below. Sport - Great, score 35, ranks in the best 20% of its category. Canon PowerShot S90 is perfect for Sport photography, one of the best in its class.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the new design is the new Control Ring built around the lens, which can be set to control exposure (i.e. aperture or shutter speed), AE compensation, step zoom, manual focus and a selection of other functions. Finding a way of offering usable manual controls has proved surprisingly difficult for the normally ingenious designers of ultra compact cameras (although we've suggested a traditional 'aperture ring' like this on many occasions); this seemingly simple addition has a transformative effect on the utility of the S90's extensive manual controls.But can a compact camera of such credit card sized dimensions really produce images that real photographers would be proud of? Read on…